Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame Vanderbilt

Provenance

  • 1898: commissioned by George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914) , Biltmore, NC;
  • 1902: completed and sent to Vanderbilt;
  • 1914: bequeathed by Vanderbilt to the sitter, his widow, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (1873-1958) (later Mrs Edith Stuyvesant Gerry);
  • 1958: on her death, 21 December 1958, it passed to a private collection;
  • By 2014: on exhibition in Biltmore, NC.

Exhibitions

  • 1902: Douzième Exposition, Ouvrages de Peintures, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Objets d'Art, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Grand Palais, Paris, 1902 (cat. no. 1193) as 'Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame V . . . '
  • 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 33) as 'Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame V . . . '

                    Panel of five paintings, GUL MS Whistler NB 2/120-121e
Panel of five paintings, GUL MS Whistler NB 2/120-121e

Whistler was displeased because the Hanging Committee at the Salon did not consult him on the arrangement of his group of pictures. A sketch, Panel of five paintings [M.1706] indicates the preferred hang: Violet and Silver: The Great Sea [YMSM 298], Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame Vanderbilt [YMSM 515], Purple and Gold: Phryne the Superb! - Builder of Temples [YMSM 490], Grenat et or: Le Petit Cardinal [YMSM 469] and Gold and Orange: The Neighbours [YMSM 423]. 1 The exhibition opened on 21 April 1902, and it appears Whistler was worried because the portrait of Mrs Vanderbilt was 'skied' and also showed some finger-marks, but on the other hand, he was not concerned about the subdued lighting criticised by some visitors to the show. 2

Notes:

1: Sketch in draft letter to Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, [17/20 April 1902], GUW #12720.

2: Whistler to R. Canfield, [19 April 1902], GUW #09044; R. B. Philip to I. Addams, 25 April 1902, GUW #04835; R. B. Philip to Vanderbilt, 1 May 1902, GUW #04836; Whistler to W. Heinemann, [1/8 May 1902], GUW #09613.

Last updated: 18th October 2020 by Margaret